Book 22 Chapter 6 – Coincidental Karma
Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling put on their mask. Mingling among the Longyou Bang people, they safely left the city. The streets were crowded to bursting point with people who came to participate in the Bai Ye General Assembly, but were now rushing out ‘to flee’.
Just by looking at the scene of panic, they knew how powerful the rumor was.
Ze Yue laughed and said in low voice, “Two gentlemen are really formidable; without spending a soldier or a pawn, you broke Rong Fengxiang’s wishful thinking.”
With a bit of unbelief, Kou Zhong said, “This is really unexpected.”
Ze Yue said, “The issue here is that all the veterans of various regions north of the River feel that Bai Ye She is coercing the north, taking advantage of the south. Two gentlemen’s fabricated rumor is not entirely unfounded; to say the least, Luoyang Bang’s former Bangzhu Shangguan Long was a thousand-true, ten-thousand-certain, Yin Gui Pai demon. As business people, nobody dares to have any dealings with that kind of people from evil cult, peculiar sect, who disregard reasons and kill people indiscriminately; thereupon we seize the opportunity to disperse in confusion. Nobody could blame anybody.”
Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling had a weird sensation, feeling that all these were absurd and laughable.
At this time the crowd was hurrying up the hill.
Ze Yue cheerfully said, “To be able to make friends with two gentlemen is really a rare karma. Now I want to immediately return to Longyou Bang to report to Die; when I have time another day, I will definitely call on two gentlemen.”
The two parties bade farewell in delight.
Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling spurred their horses to rush toward the place where they were going to rendezvous with Xuan Yong; in one breath they covered more than a dozen li, when heavy rain suddenly poured down, covering the heaven and earth in a vast expanse of whiteness.
The two boys took shelter on the edge of the forest, while giving their horses a bit of rest.
Kou Zhong leaped down from the horse, and squatted down on the ground, just like when they were little, while staring blankly at the heavy rain outside the forest. Light rain still penetrated down through the thick leaves above, sprinkling droplets of water on their bodies.
The heavy rain stopped most travelers. Only those who, for a variety of reasons, were anxious to leave Hefei as far away as possible did not avoid the hardship by braving the rain to hasten on with their journey.
Naturally Xu Ziling squatted by his side, and casually asked, “What are you thinking?”
Kou Zhong replied, “Yin Gui Pai’s demonic power is boundless, only by the mention of their name people are scared and running away like there was a demon-personifying pestilence.”
Xu Ziling wiped the rainwater accumulated on his eyes, but did not say anything.
Kou Zhong sighed and said, “But what I was just thinking was not this matter; I was just feeling that something was not right.”
The last sentence attracted Xu Ziling’s attention; astounded, he asked about it.
Kou Zhong spoke in heavy voice, “It was a feeling of uneasiness. Do you remember Fu Gongyou said that Xiao Xian, Zhu Can and Cao Yinglong are working together with An Long threading the needle [fig. acting as a go-between]? But An Long’s sworn brother Xie Hui is the Song Family’s Miss Yuhua’s father-in-law. Wouldn’t it mean that the Song Family is, more or less, also implicated?”
Xu Ziling said, “It is also possible that they completely have nothing to do with it. As I see it, An Long’s identity is very much a secret, at least to the outsiders he presents himself as a man with mediocre martial art skill. The only thing that worries me is the cooperation between Xiao, Zhu and Cao, three men, which is not as simple as what we thought. We might have fallen into their scheme, and that would be absolutely terrible.”
Shaken, Kou Zhong said, “You are right. Meeting this drenching rain head-on is like being awakened from a big dream. Just like we are leading more than a thousand troops going to the west, but the enemy is waiting for us with heart and soul. One thing went wrong, they would discover our track; the two of us might be able to escape, but the others would certainly meet their end. That would be greatly terrible.”
On the road outside the forest, a caravan of more than thirty carts slowly passed by. The road has been turning into mud, men and horses were unbearably weary.
Xu Ziling said, “I have an idea, which is moving our troops along the route that the enemy would never expect, but we must have someone who is familiar with the route leading us, otherwise, if we get lost, the result will be even worse.”
Kou Zhong shook his head, “No!” he said, “We must get there in the quickest possible way. Ay! It seems like the only way is to hide during the day and travel during the night as was originally planned, and take his mother’s a gamble.”
Suddenly the sound of hoof beats arose.
The two boys jumped in fright. Just by listening to the hoof beats, they knew that there was a large group of riders coming this direction, braving the rain.
They waited in silence. Not too long afterwards, hundreds Jiang Huai troops swept past, galloping to a certain destination in full speed.
Stunned, Kou Zhong said, “Did you see it?”
Nodding, Xu Ziling replied, “Of course I did. I even recognized Rong Fengxiang, Zuo Youxian, among them. This time An Long is facing imminent catastrophe!”
Kou Zhong’s spirit greatly aroused, he sprang up and said, “Since we are heading that direction anyway, how could we miss this excitement?”
The sound of blades clashing against each other was getting closer and closer, by the time the two boys rushed over a small hill, the grassland shrouded by the heavy rain below was already covered in dead bodies. Under the leadership of Fu Gongyou, the Jiang Huai Army, which was reinforced by Rong Fengxiang and Zuo Youxian, two martial art masters, already gained overwhelming superiority. They were pursuing and attacking the enemy scattering in all directions.
Exhaling a mouthful of cold air, Kou Zhong said, “Unexpectedly there are so many people.”
Raising his hand to his forehead to shelter his eyes from the rain, Xu Ziling nodded and said, “Jiang Huai Army numbers at least two thousands, the enemy is between seven, eight hundred men. Looks like Fu Gongyou already setup an ambush here, and then launched a pincer attack from the front and rear, in one move they crushed the enemy’s resistance. Looking at the way they are deploying the troops, surely it was a carefully thought strategy. No wonder Jiang Huai Army is able to move unhindered without suffering any defeat.”
The two boys galloped down to the plain to examine the dead and wounded, one of which had not breathed his last. Kou Zhong jumped down his horse and propped him up, “What happened?” he asked, “Who are you? Who wanted to kill you?”
The man coughed up blood, looked like he would not make it. Kou Zhong transmitted his internal qi, the man’s spirit was suddenly shaken, “It’s Fu Gongyou,” he said in panic, “We have fallen into their trap.”
“Isn’t your master An Long?” Kou Zhong hastily asked.
Shaking his head, the man replied, “No! We are under General Bai’s leadership … Ah …”
“Which side are you on?” Kou Zhong called out, then he slowly put the man down on the ground, wiped his eyes, and then he stood up and raised his arms in a helpless gesture, and said, “Which general is surnamed Bai?”
Xu Ziling knew he was not really asking for an answer. Casting his gaze around to inspect the situation on this side, he said, “These men are dressed as traveling merchants. Obviously they wanted to conceal their original identity, so they were in some kind of conspiracy. If you chase them up to take a look, won’t it be clear?”
Kou Zhong flew up to mount his horse and rode away.
Xu Ziling caught up with him. Riding side by side, he said, “Currently, to Fu Gongyou, nothing is more important than killing An Long. Therefore, although these men were not An Long’s subordinates, they must have a little bit of relationship with An Long. We still have important matter at hand, do you really want to meddle in other people’s business?”
“You are right!” Kou Zhong agreed, “Let’s go.”
Reining in their horses, they turned around, bypassing the plain where the battle was still going on, passing through the forest and climbing over the slope, and then rushing along a ten-li stretch of road running parallel to a stream, before the two boys stopped.
Even with their power, after enduring constant activities without sleeping day and night for several days, the two boys were finally unable to bear it anymore; they stopped on a hillside to rest. The horses ate the grass, the boys ate their dry rations.
After the rain, the air on the open country was particularly fresh and clean. In this verdant and moist world, the mountain forest competed to be the most green-jade, the wild flowers strived for the most colorful.
Sunlight penetrated the black cloud, sprinkling a piece of its light on the east, and a column of ray on the west. Looking at the marvel of an enormous, irregular shadow cast by a clump of clouds rapidly traversing the plains, Kou Zhong was overwhelmed with emotion. He said, “Wind and cloud! The wind blows the clouds move! Perhaps the wind and the cloud mean precisely what we see before our eyes; no matter how awe-inspiring, in the blink of an eye it will pass, without leaving the least bit of trace.”
Xu Ziling took a deep breath and said, “But the embodiment of wind, cloud, man, and object [feng yun ren wu, together mean ‘man/woman of the moment’ (an influential figure)] actually has a deeper layer of meaning, which is no matter how harsh you rebuke the Heaven and the Earth [orig. rebuke angrily the wind and the cloud], one day you will return to the yellow sandy soil. To be born, and to die! What is the purpose of this?”
Astonished, Kou Zhong said, “Buddhist has Buddhist saying, Taoist also has Taoist saying. It is best to ask this question to Shi Feixuan. I am sure Wanwan also have different set of sayings. As for who’s right who’s wrong, I am afraid we can only toss the dice to decide. Ha! Finally I found a way to settle the dispute.”
Blurted out laughing, Xu Ziling said, “You call that a way to settle the dispute?”
Immensely pleased with himself, Kou Zhong said, “This is called a way in the midst of no way.”
Xu Ziling suddenly appeared as if he was listening attentively. “Did you hear that?” he whispered.
Kou Zhong hastily bent his head and pricked his ears; nodding, he said, “It sounds like hoof beats; should be only one horse.”
Xu Ziling nodded and said, “That’s right! And a wounded man crouching on it.”
Speechless, Kou Zhong said, “How could your ears be so formidable? Unexpectedly you can listen to such a small detail, as if you are witnessing it yourself.”
Displeased, Xu Ziling said, “I practically use my eyes to see.”
Kou Zhong suddenly looked up, and saw far away on the prairie, a horse, carrying a man on its back, was running toward them.
Xu Ziling sprang up and said, “Let’s see if we can help.”
Kou Zhong intercepted the horse, Xu Ziling took the man down and helped him sit on the ground.
The man has sank into a half comatose condition; his face was full of blood, many places on his body had stab wounds, the most deadly was a punch on his back, leaving a patch of scarlet fist print.
The two transmitted their internal qi, and beginning to feel the man’s deep foundation; he entirely depended on a mouthful of true qi to protect his heart and meridians, while fleeing to this place.
‘Wah!’
The man suddenly vomited a mouthful of clotted blood, and regained his consciousness. Realizing these two must be helping him healing his injury, he hastily circulating his own internal power according to his own cultivating method. After thirty-six cycles, the man’s injury immediately saw a big improvement, not only his wound, big and small, stopped bleeding, he was also able to apply his own qi to heal his internal injury.
Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling was tired on top of their original weariness; standing up and walking some distance away, Kou Zhong spoke in low voice, “Do you feel that this kid has a fairly good face? I feel like I’ve seen him somewhere before.”
Xu Ziling said, “I also feel like I have seen him before. If we wash his face, we’ll know who he is!”
Kou Zhong patted his shoulder and said, “I’ll go fetch our horses, you look at him, don’t let him and his horse run away.”
Xu Ziling mumbled his agreement. After Kou Zhong left, he returned to the man and helped him circulating his blood, transferring his qi.
The man took long, withdrawn breathing, and spoke hoarsely, “Big kindness unspeakable gratitude! Two Engong [benefactor] honorable surname and great given name?”
Xu Ziling did not answer, but asked a question instead, “Sire’s power is quite good, how did you get into such plight?”
The man replied heavily, “I was harmed by a poisonous woman. I can only blame myself for having eyes without the eyeball, and was unwilling to listen to other people’s advice. Ay!”
Xu Ziling was stunned; he originally guessed that this man was a general of the defeated army being ambushed by the Jianghuai Army, who would have thought that his condition was related to some ‘poisonous woman’?
This moment Kou Zhong came leading their horses. Seeing the man was awake, he happily said, “Your complexion looks good; friend, how should we address you?”
The man replied, “Zaixia Bai Wenyuan of Jingjian Zong [lit. clean sword school].”
Kou Zhong stopped abruptly; he and Xu Ziling looked at each other. No wonder the face was quite familiar. A few years ago outside the city of Baling, Bai Wenyuan came with Zhu Can’s daughter, the ‘Poisonous Spider’ Zhu Mei, to plot against them, but they managed to beat him that he dropped into the river and ran away. Because it has been too long, their memory of this matter was very vague; were it not for meeting Bai Wenyuan again, they nearly forgot about it. [See Book 8 Chapter 8]
The two boys were still wearing their mask, naturally Bai Wenyuan did not recognize them. Seeing the two boys’ weird expression, he asked in astonishment, “Have two gentlemen heard Zaixia’s name?”
Xu Ziling stood up, and spoke indifferently, “Just now Bai Xiong mentioned being harmed by ‘poisonous woman’; were you referring to ‘Poisonous Spider’ Zhu Mei?”
Severely shaken, Bai Wenyuan asked, “How could Engong know?”
Kou Zhong tore off his mask and said, “Bai Xiong, how are you? Do you remember me, Kou Zhong?”
Immediately Bai Wenyuan’s countenance changed. After staring blankly for half a day, he smiled wryly and said, “No wonder you can heal my injury that quickly. In any case, two gentlemen snatched my life back for me; you want to kill, you want to cut my flesh, you may do as you wish.”
Xu Ziling also took off his mask, walked over toward Kou Zhong, and said with a sneer, “We are not like Zhu Can, who kills whoever he wishes. Bai Xiong, you’d better leave this dangerous place quickly; if you are late, I am afraid disaster might befall you.”
The two flew up their horses, and were about to leave, Bai Wenyuan struggled hard to stand up and called out, “Wait! It’s a trap, by all means, do not go to the Flying Horse Ranch.”
The two boys could not stop the chill from flitting across their hearts.
After speeding along for more than twenty li, the three men dismounted to get some rest. It was only then did they have the opportunity to listen to Bai Wenyuan’s story.
Bai Wenyuan was still very weak; along the way, the two boys helped him healing his blood circulation.
He sighed in distress and said, “Nobody did not say that after Zhu Mei, the poisonous woman, became fed up with a man, she would devour him and put him to death, lest other women would take possession of him. But in my overconfidence, I felt that I am handsome, my martial art is not inferior to hers, plus I was infatuated by her physique and her flirtatious expressions, unexpectedly I was foolish enough to take a chance, believing that I would be the only exception. In the end I suffered retribution; it serves me right.”
Seeing his heroic aura was cut short, he was full of remorse and was in wretched state, the two boys felt sorry for him. But on the other hand, they also felt that he only had himself to blame, simply because both boys were not the kind of men who would give up everything for a beauty.
The fact was that they still could not figure out how did Bai Wenyuan get seriously injured?
Bai Wenyuan continued, “This time Zhu Mei and I led a thousand men, originally to provide support to An Long; who would have thought that Zhu Mei betrayed us, and managed to deal us total defeat? I really let down my brothers, who had followed me through fire and water for the past many years.”
Stunned, Kou Zhong said, “Turns out the side who was attacked by Fu Gongyou was your men. Where did Zhu Mei go? By doing this, what would be the benefit for her father?”
A strong resentment flashed through Bai Wenyuan’s eyes; he said hatefully, “The poisonous woman already left one step ahead, claiming that after providing support to An Long, she would come back to me, and had me going a certain hill to regroup. By the time I found out that she slipped away with An Long along another trail, we already fell into Jianghuai Army’s pincer attack from front and rear.”
Puzzled, Xu Ziling said, “Aren’t your men Zhu Can, father and daughter’s Garuda Army? By wasting away their team of elite troops, it would bring more harm than good to Zhu Mei.”
Bai Wenyuan spoke heavily, “This time the men were entirely my personal troops; the majority of them were my clansmen and brothers from the same school. Over the years, I have established countless heroic contribution [orig. riding a laboring horse to great deeds] for them, father and daughter. Within the Garuda Army, I was dubbed the Fuma Jiangjun [emperor’s son-in-law general]; my power and influence grew more flourishing by the day, I was more popular than they, father and daughter, so they had already grown jealous of me early on, and now they finally found the opportunity to kill me. Ay! I was really stupid and muddleheaded.”
“But how can you be sure that it was Zhu Mei who harmed you?” Kou Zhong asked.
Bai Wenyuan’s eyes were spouting flame of hatred; he said, “First, she grew a lot colder toward me; how could this kind of feeling between a man and a women deceive me? Moreover, I knew that she had been in contact with An Long [Translator’s note: the text indicates more personal ‘contact’].”
The two boys could only return a blank stare.
“It can’t be!” Kou Zhong doubtfully said, “An Long is fatter than a pig, while Zhu Mei is the type of woman who has voracious desire of good looks … hey! How could Zhu Mei look him in the eye?”
Full of disdain, Bai Wenyuan said, “This poisonous woman, nobody can measure her using common sense; any fresh stimulation will do. I heard that on the bed, An Long has another set of powerful skill, able to make women infatuated with him. This kind of situation, that pair of dog man and woman [a couple engaged in an illicit love affair] ought to know.”
Xu Ziling asked, “Just now you advised us not to go to the Flying Horse Ranch; what exactly happened?”
Bai Wenyuan replied, “I ought to start with An Long. He has always been in close relationship with Cao Yinglong, and has always been enemies with us, no friendly relationship at all. But after Li Mi was defeated by you, the situation on the north changed very fast. Li Yuan might go out the Pass any moment, Liu Wuzhou and Dou Jiande also began to get restless. On the other hand, Wang Shichong’s power greatly flourished. In case he obtained Li Mi’s territory, there is great possibility he might expand to the south. In such an urgent situation like this, An Long took the opportunity to represent Cao Yinglong to establish friendly relations with us, to form an alliance, to prepare to take Sichuan first, and then to attack the Flying Horse Ranch. Later on it will be Jingling and Xiangyang.”
Stunned, Kou Zhong asked, “Isn’t An Long the sworn brother of Sichuan’s Duzun Bao [lit. fort/stronghold holding supremacy; not sure if it is a name] Xie Hui?”
Bai Wenyuan snorted coldly and said, “Early in the year An Long has already broken his relationship with Xie Hui over some unknown matters; potentially they are like fire and water now. I really don’t understand what’s going on in An Long’s head; such a strong backer, yet he broke the relationship.”
Xu Ziling said, “Did Bai Xiong know that An Long is a martial art master with quite a ranking among the demonic schools?”
Bai Wenyuan’s mouth was agape, “Xu Xiong is not joking?” he asked in astonishment.
Kou Zhong gave him a simple explanation; pressing on, he asked, “How did you hook up with Xiao Xian?”
Bai Wenyuan replied, “’How did Xiao Xian hook up with us’ is more correct. Now the situation is clear; one more day Zhu Can, father and daughter, refuses to give him the nod, one more day Xiao Xian cannot cross north of the river.”
Xu Ziling said, “Since that’s the case, how are you going to cooperate in the future?”
Bai Wenyuan replied, “The issue here is that Zhu Can and Cao Yinglong knew their own weight. Several times they attacked Jingling, they were beaten back by Fu Gongyou that they had to retreat. And then there’s lack of food supplies; rather than being decimated by Fong Gongyou, they chose to expand to Sichuan. Other than obtaining large quantities of rations and fodder from Xiao Xian, they could also let Xiao Xian and Fu Gongyou, Du Fuwei, to kill each other. So Xiao Xian put forward the conditions of the cooperation; the first one being eliminating two gentlemen, whom Cao Yinglong and Zhu Can, father and daughter, hate to the bones. Hence the reason they were together from the first beat [idiom: to hit it off, to click together]. Flying Horse Ranch is just the bait.”
Kou Zhong laughed and said, “Cao Yinglong, that fellow, finally realized that it was us who spoiled his good deeds that night!”
With grave expression Bai Wenyuan said, “Now all three parties have selected their elite troops, forming a ten-thousand men powerful army division, with Xiao Xian’s Great General Dong Jingzhen as the Commander-in-Chief. They assembled in a hidden, secluded place near the Flying Horse Ranch, ready to deliver a frontal assault to your weary expeditionary force. No matter which route you are going to take to the Flying Horse Ranch, it’s impossible to evade their eyes and ears. This army division also consists of another squad of more than fifty Wulin’s martial art masters, with specific task to deal with the two gentlemen.”
Kou Zhong smiled and said, “If we did not meet Bai Xiong, we’d surely be in disastrous position [orig. everything bodes ill, no positive signs]; but now since we know ourselves and know our enemies, the situation is diametrically different. Let me ask you first, does Bai Xiong wish to kill that poisonous woman?”
Bai Wenyuan showed a thirst and longing expression; he nodded his head with determination.
Kou Zhong patted his shoulder vigorously, and bared his white teeth thoroughly. Letting out a long laugh, he said, “In that case, we must catch up with An Long first, kill his mother until he is in a sorry state, so that Bai Xiong can vent your goddam anger.”
Frowning, Xu Ziling said, “Wouldn’t it be beating the grass to scare the snake?”
Kou Zhong replied indifferently, “We certainly will take our time in making the decision; but if we can capture An Long and Zhu Mei, then it won’t be beating the grass to scare the snake.”